jenna: the defense secretary speaking in london there. terrorists affiliated with al qaeda are holed up at that gas plant. they have been there now for three days, demanding an end to the anti-terror campaign playing out right now in neighboring mali. that big area of north africa is part of what we're seeing with this rise of al qaeda in that continent. chief washington correspondent james rosen is live in our d.c. bureau. james, we talked about this as a very fluid, very dangerous situation. what do we now know? >> reporter: jenna, good afternoon. white house officials are now saying president obama is receiving regular updates on this situation which remains as you say ongoing and sensetive. the numbers involved here have varied wildly with the latest from algeria's state news service now saying nearly 100 of 132 hostages seized have been freed. that word comes after algerian security forces launched a helicopter assault on the complex yesterday. 18 of the islamist militants have been reported killed. however there are reports two fili